Since 1966 the legislature has held annual general sessions. Previously, sessions in odd-numbered years were of unlimited duration while in even-numbered years the session was limited to 60 calendar days, unless two-thirds of the elected members of each house voted to extend it. A constitutional amendment adopted at the 1974 general election extended the duration of the session held in the even-numbered years to 90 calendar days, still subject to extension by a vote of two-thirds of the elected membership of each house.[3].

Sessions

Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution establishes when the Kansas State Legislature, of which the House of Representatives is a part, is to be in session. Section 8 of Article 2 states that the Legislature is to convene on the second Monday of January of each year. Section 8 also limits the length of regular sessions in even-numbered years to ninety calendar days, but it allows these sessions to be extended by a two-thirds affirmative vote of both houses. In 2010, this kind of extension occurred, moving the session's adjournment date from March 30th to May 28th.

2013

In 2013, the Legislature was in session from January 14 through June 20.

Major issues

Major issues during the 2013 legislative session included school funding, a settlement between tobacco companies and the state, mental health funding, KanCare, illegal immigration, pension system changes, shifting taxes to the local level, and liquor sales.[4]

2012

In 2012, the House was scheduled to be in session from January 9 through May 14. However, due to infighting among Republicans, the session had to be extended through the 20th. Major issues which remained unresolved included education funding, state employee pension reform, redistricting and the budget. Gov. Sam Brownback (R) stated, “I think it’s reasonable for people to say they should have gotten things done in 90 days. My hope is that they wrap it up here pretty soon.”[5]

Major issues

Alongside the budget, legislators considered reforming the school financing formula and expanding Medicaid's managed care system.[6]

2010

Elections for the office of Kansas House of Representatives were held in Kansas on November 2, 2010. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was June 10, 2010 for partisan candidates and is August 2 by noon for independent candidates. The primary election day was on August 3, 2010.

In 2010, candidates running for the state house raised a total of $5,474,989 in campaign contributions. The top donors were: [8]

2010 Donors, Kansas House of Representatives

Donor

Amount

Donohoe, Owen

$115,100

Brown, Tony

$108,100

Kansas Optometric Association

$94,050

Kansas Contractors Association

$85,800

Kansas Medical Society

$82,850

Kansas Chamber of Commerce & Industry

$68,750

Kansas Education Association

$68,500

Kansas Association of Realtors

$66,625

Kansas Bankers Association

$66,288

AT&T

$64,848

Qualifications

Section 4 of Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution states, "During the time that any person is a candidate for nomination or election to the legislature and during the term of each legislator, such candidate or legislator shall be and remain a qualified elector who resides in his or her district."

Vacancies

The Governor is responsible for filling all vacancies in the House of Representatives.

The political party committee that last held the vacant seat must call for a convention within 21 days of the vacancy. The convention is designed to select the Governor's appointee and involves all the committeemen and committeewomen that represent the vacant legislative district[9].

The committeemen and committeewomen present for voting must approve a replacement on a simple majority vote. Once the vote has been conducted, the party committee must send the paperwork certifying the selection to the Governor within 24 hours or the next business day. The Governor has seven days after receiving the paperwork to act on the appointment[10].

Redistricting

The Kansas Legislature handles redistricting. Both chambers have a Reapportionment Committee that presenst plans to the chamber at large. Gubernatorial veto is not present, but all plans must be reviewed by the Kansas Supreme Court. Kansas uses adjusted census figures to account for non-residents in school or the military.

2010 census

Kansas received its local census data on March 3, 2012. The state grew by 6.1 percent to over 2.58 million, with growth concentrated in the northeast corner of the state and the remainder largely showing slight declines. (The adjusted total was about 14,000 less than the federal figure.) Wichita grew by 11.1 percent, Overland Park grew by 16.3 percent, Kansas City decreased by 0.7 percent, Topeka grew by 4.2 percent, and Olathe grew by 35.4 percent.[11]

The Legislature attempted redistricting in its 2012 session. Against custom, which had the chambers passing their own maps, the Senate passed revisions to a new House map, and the House passed a map for the Senate; neither chamber was amenable to the other's actions. On May 20, the Legislature adjourned amid deadlock, meaning the courts would have to decide the new boundaries.

Representatives

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Kansas State House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Leadership

The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the body. In the absence of the Speaker, the Speaker Pro Tempore takes on the duties of the office. The Speaker and Speaker Pro Tempore are both elected by the members of the House. Duties of the Speaker include preserving order and decorum, and deciding all questions of order.[12][13]

Salaries

As of 2013, members of the Kansas legislature are paid $88.50/day. Additionally, legislators receive $118/day per diem tied to the federal rate.[14]

Pension

As of 2011, when pensions are calculated for Kansas legislators, their normal annual salary is inflated by nearly $78,000. This is composed of $32,982, which comes from multiplying their daily salary by 372 (the number of days they would work if in session every day and if every month had 31 days), $45,756 from adding in their daily per diem (also based on 372 days), and $7,083 from expense payments. According to Sen. Steve Morris, this is intended as compensation because of low legislative salaries which are seen as difficult to raise.[15]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic party was the majority in the Kansas State House of Representatives for the first year while through the last 21 years the Republican Party was the majority. The Kansas State House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. During the final three years of the study, Kansas was under Republican trifectas.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.